Fastener

ABSTRACT

A fastener for holding a plurality of sheet material together, such as paper and the like, having a pair of elongated elements, each element passing through said sheet material and having passage means at one end for accepting passage of the opposite end of the other of said elongated elements thereby holding together said sheet material in a fixed position between said elements.

United States Patent [191 Abeles [1 1 3,896,528 [451 July 29,1975

[ FASTENER [76] Inventor: Rodman Abeles, 305 E. 40th St.,

New York, NY. 10016 [22] Filed: Feb. 15, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 443,148

[52] US. Cl 24/153 S; 24/67 R [51] Int. Cl. A44B 9/00; B42F 3/00 [58] Field of Search 24/67 R, 153.], 153 S, 24/153 BP [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 47,526 5/1865 Denham 24/153.1 1,233,983 7/1917 1,280,434 10/1918 Fisher 24/l53.1 X 1,480,952 1/1924 Potter 24/153 S 2,480,917 9/1949 Goldman 24/67 R UX 3,172,409 3/1965 Goldman 24/153 BP UX 3,211,156 10/1965 Dennis; 24/153 S X FOREIGN PATENTS ,OR APPLICATIONS 905,409 4/1945 France 24/67 R Primary Examiner-Donald A. Griffin Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Lilling & Siegel [57] ABSTRACT A fastener for holding a plurality of sheet material together, such as paper and the like, having a pair of elongated elements, each element passing through said sheet material and having passage means at one end for accepting passage of the opposite end of the other of said elongated elements thereby holding together said sheet material in a fixed position between said elements.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED L 9 i975 FASTENER BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the prior art, there is a loose leaf binder of the type having prong-like fasteners permanently secured to a binder backing. The fasteners are used to retain in place a stack of three-hole paper and the fasteners pass through associated slots in a short front cover flap (see US. Pat. No. 3,172,409 to S. L. Goldman). This binder structure is limited in application because it is bulky and the fasteners are combined with a backing and cover flap; such system clearly does not lend itself to universal application as does the paper fastener of the present invention.

Another device although unrelated to the invention, and encompassing similar ideas or concepts is the combined waist-holder and skirt-supporter of US. Pat. No. 645,847 to George L. Blackman. In said patent, a pair of small hooks provided with eyelets are interlocked together about a metallic strip in the form of a belt having two rows of holes. Each pair of hooks extend through the holes and interlock with each other in a permanent fashion with the sharp pointed prongs projecting in opposite directions for suspending therefrom along one of said rows a skirt, and for maintaining and preventing the pulling up of the front and back waist portions of a shirt or blouse along the other of said rows. The present invention, in contrast thereto, maintains a plurality of sheet material locked between a pair of elements, and the ends or prongs of each element extend through all of the sheet material and an aperture in the other prong for interlocking the elements together as a unit, somewhat similar to a staple, but with the quick and easy reusable feature of an ACCO fastener.

The present invention therefore provides paper fasteners or the like, and more particularly provides a pair of elongated elements, each having at one end thereof passage means, which co-operate together to form a fastener locking therebetween a plurality of sheet material such as paper.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a unique fastener device which may be considered in the nature of an AGCO" fastener (a registered trademark of Natser Corporation, d.b.a. Acco Products of Ogdensburg, New York), but one which is relativey simple in construction, small in size and readily manipulated in order to fasten a plurality of sheet material.

Another object of the present invention, is to provide a fastener of the reusable type, in contrast to conventional staples, which is quick and easy to adjust to various positions without the need for a tool to reopen same, and one which is entirely safe and reliable in operation.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following patent specification and referring to the accompanying drawing, which forms a material part of this disclosure.

The invention, accordingly, consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts. which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope will be indicated by the appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention, accordingly, comprises a fastener or device adapted for holding together a plurality of sheet material. The device includes a pair of elongated elements, preferably identical in size and shape, each passing generally near each other through the sheet material near a marginal edge thereof, and having at one end thereof passage means for receiving the opposite end of the other of said elongated elements. The other end of the elements being adapted to be bent or deflected so as to reside when fastened to said sheet material in a place substantially parallel to the plane of such sheet material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view from one side of a single elongated element having at one end thereof passage means constructed in accordance with the teaching of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating a pair of elongated elements each having at one end thereof passage means and illustrating such element in a position for co-operating with each other and retaining therebetween a plurality of sheet material;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the fastener assembly with the sheet material partially broken away;

FIG. 4 is a partial longitudinal sectional view taken generally along the line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional elevational view taken generally along the line 55 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now more particularly to the drawing, and specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, a plurality of sheet material, such as paper and the like, is there generally designated 10, and said sheet material may, if desired, be pierced with suitable aperture means 12 to facilitate receiving the pair of elongated elements 14 and 16. The aperture means 12 may be suitably spaced apart any desired distance, and to an extent is governed by the length of the fasteners and/or the thickness of the sheet material 10. A thick stack of paper should have in general a larger spacing for greater support and strength, whereas a small stack of paper requires less spacing.

Adjacent to one end of each elongated element is a suitable passage means 18, 20 respectively, provided on the elongated element 14, 16.

The other ends of the elongated element are suitably rounded or pointed, as at 22, 24, respectively, so as to facilitate entry of the elongated element into the sheet material and through the co-operating passage means of the associated elongated element.

As will be appreciated, the apertures 12 may not be necessary where the thickness of the sheet material is such that the elements 14', 16 can readily pierce the sheet material. Thus, as in the application of a conventional stapler, it is not necessary to pierce the sheet material prior to inserting or assembling the stapler to the sheet material, whereas, with an ACCO fastener, it is generally the practice to first pierce the sheet material prior to assembling the ACCO" fastener to the stack of sheet material. In the present situation, the device of the invention may be utilized with or without pierced openings in the sheet material, depending upon the mode of operation and the thickness of the sheet material. If, on the other hand, the device of the invention is employed in conjunction with an apparatus for assembling the elongated elements mechanically, then it would probably be unnecessary to pierce the sheet material prior to assembling the device of the invention to the sheet material, since the prongs would be sufficiently strong for piercing the sheets of paper.

As best shown in the drawings, and particularly in FIGS. 2-4, when the elongated elements are utilized and a plurality of sheet material is bound together with the fastener device, the elements l4, 16 are initially bent in a suitable manner as at 26 and the elements are passed through the sheet material and through the passage means of the associated elongated element so that the pair of elongated elements lock together in a fixed position with the sheet material disposed therebetween. Thereafter, the ends of the elongated elements opposite the ends having the passage means are further bent or deflected, preferably in a direction away from the zone or portion between the pierced passage means in the sheet material (see FIG. 4). If desired, such ends may be bent in the opposite direction than shown in FIG. 4 so as to overlap or reside essentially in the same direction as that portion of the elongated element containing the passsage means. By bending or deflecting the ends of the elongated elements in a direction away from the passage means in the sheet material, the stack of material is provided with further rigidity at its upper end inasmuch as one can consider the two elongated elements to constitute in effect a single reinforced rigid bar disposed along the upper edge of the sheet material in a line or path passing through the points of contact or joints, which tie together the stack of sheet material.

It will be appreciated that the elongated fasteners comprise an identical pair of elongated elements which can be identified as a front and rear fastener or an upper and lower fastener and it will also be appreciated that such elongated fasteners may be provided with or without an initial bend, preferably of about 90. Such initial bends would facilitate assembling the device to a stack of sheet material. However, it is not essential that the bends be initially provided in the elongated elements since such elements would be made of a metallic material of sufficient rigidity and strength, but yet having a resiliency enabling one to readily bend or flex the fasteners as desired during the operationof assembling same to a stack of sheet material. Of course, should such fasteners be employed in an apparatus, such as a machine similar to the common stapler, the elongated fasteners would be bent in the machine, which would be of a type having a double feed, so that the fasteners are fed one above the material and one below the material.

The length of the fasteners can be of any size and, of course, if the sheet material to be fastened is very thick, the fasteners would be longer than the length of such a fastener which would be utilized conventionally by one in the normal application.

It should also be recognized that such a novel and unique fastener is capable of being manually opened and closed without difficulty and, therefore, it has a distinct advantage of enabling one to add or remove additional sheets of material from the assembled fastener device without any difficulty whatsoever. One simply can rebend or straighten the ends of the fastener so as to remove or reinsert sheet material and thereafter rebend the elongated elements back to the assembled position.

The foregoing isconsidered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described. Accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention, such as a single fastener threaded through a pair of holes in a stack 'of paper and through its own passage means.

What is claimed is: v

1. In combination, a fastener adapted for holding together a stacked plurality of sheet material, such as paper and the like, the combination comprising: a pair of elongated, substantially flat elements, each of said elements having at one end thereof passage means; said passage means of said elements adapted to be aligned from opposite sides of the stacked sheet material with spaced apart openings in said sheet material; the other end of each of said elements being folded and adapted to pass in opposite directions through said spaced apart openings and the passage means of the opposing element; and said ends being further folded, whereby the interlocking of the other end of each element with the passage means of the opposing element forms together with said stacked sheet material a reinforced rigid edge portion between at least said pair of spaced apart openmgs.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said elongated elements are identical in size and shape.

3.The combination according to claim 1, wherein said sheet material is provided with apertures for accommodating the passage of said elongated elements therethrough.

4. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said elongated elements are substantially thin, flexible members made from sheet metal. 

1. In combination, a fastener adapted for holding together a stacked plurality of sheet material, such as paper and the like, the combination comprising: a pair of elongated, substantially flat elements, each of said elements having at one end thereof passage means; said passage means of said elements adapted to be aligned from opposite sides of the stacKed sheet material with spaced apart openings in said sheet material; the other end of each of said elements being folded and adapted to pass in opposite directions through said spaced apart openings and the passage means of the opposing element; and said ends being further folded, whereby the interlocking of the other end of each element with the passage means of the opposing element forms together with said stacked sheet material a reinforced rigid edge portion between at least said pair of spaced apart openings.
 2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said elongated elements are identical in size and shape.
 3. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said sheet material is provided with apertures for accommodating the passage of said elongated elements therethrough.
 4. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said elongated elements are substantially thin, flexible members made from sheet metal. 